Videogames have developed into a mature mainstream entertainment medium over the past few years. Few people would feel ashamed for choosing to spend an evening playing Halo or World of Warcraft over watching brainless television reruns. Yet while the medium may have found acceptance, its music inspires much less enthusiasm. Game soundtrack CDs remain a rare creature in the U.S., and far too often the only games whose audio earns widespread critical acclaim are music titles specifically built around popular songs (The Beatles: Rock Band, for instance) or big-budget action games whose publishers have recruited Hollywood talent like Harry Gregson-Williams or Hans Zimmer to lend a little cinematic flair.

Perhaps that's why Japanese composer Yoko Shimomura remains fairly unknown among gamers, despite having created the music for some of the most popular games ever. With major blockbusters like Street Fighter II, Kingdom Hearts, Parasite Eve, and Super Mario RPG under her belt, Shimomura's music has entertained tens of millions of gamers. Yet only a fraction of that number knows her name, and fewer still realize that she's arguably the single most versatile composer in the industry.

Shimomura's career began at Capcom in the 1980s, where she contributed music and effects to a number of arcade and NES games. Within a few years, she found herself working on two of the biggest arcade games of the era: Final Fight, which galvanized the nascent brawler genre, and Street Fighter II, which practically invented the fighting game.

It was a lucky turn of events for a fresh college graduate who had landed at Capcom more out of convenience than by any other circumstance. "There were three companies that showed up at my school, and I was looking at all their conditions," Shimomura says. "Capcom was the one that met my conditions, so that's where I applied. The other two companies were too strict, and they were also pretty far from my house. Really, I decided on Capcom simply because it was closer."

Shimomura is in many ways a pioneer. She's one of the few female developers to have established a name for herself in the games industry, though she modestly downplays this fact. "At Capcom, there were actually a lot of female composers and artists, so I didn't really feel there were few females in the industry," she recalls. "During crunch time, people don't really care if you're a man or a woman! They just want you to pull your weight. So I never encountered any resistance. On the contrary, people may not acknowledge you as a woman while you're working, but sometimes they might complain because you don't act feminine enough," she laughs.

Perhaps more importantly, Shimomura was one of the first composers to bring a classic sensibility to game music. Throughout the first decade of the console industry, the people writing scores for games were mostly technicians and programmers first; actual musical talent was strictly a secondary consideration. Though developers would occasionally luck into someone who possessed a keen ear along with a technical mind -- Konami's Hidenori Maezawa, for instance -- trained composers were a rarity in the days before CD audio. Shimomura, however, was strictly a musician, classically trained.

"I went to a music college in Osaka, and personally I like games, so I wanted to work for a game company," she says. But while she took satisfaction in carving a career for herself in her field of choice, she wasn't entirely content with the style of music she was expected to create for Capcom. "Street Fighter II was the most popular game I worked on," she recalls, but she wanted to branch beyond action games.

Nice

Wow..

She definitely IS one of my favorite game composers that I have no idea who she is. I usually listen to a few VGM youtube channels here at work during the workday, and the KH, PE, and Mana OST's are in heavy rotation for me.

As a musicianand artist myself....~

I love both music and art. I can consider a game in these two. Made me more inspired to enjoy what I like, thanks to Uematsu-san and Shimomura-san. Her style of music is amazing, and sometimes move me so. That's why I also appreciate and respect the people behind the "stage". :D

Nice article on a highly underrated composer

I was aware of most of the work she'd done, but I had no idea about Street Fighter II. Crazy. When I first played Mario & Luigi, I hadn't heard who the composer was, but I immediately thought it was Shimomura since the pieces were reminiscent of those in Mario RPG.

My favorite soundtrack of hers though has to be Legend of Mana. The game was disappointing, but the artwork and soundtrack were brilliant.

She definitely belongs up there with other composers...

...like Mitsuda, Uematsu, and Kondo. With a discography spanning a diverse range of popular games, how can she not become a new favorite?

It feels like I missed the bus not knowing about her after having played Parasite Eve and Super Mario RPG back in the day, but I'm glad I know about her now.

I don't typically follow game composers, much less purchase game soundtracks, but I do have a great appreciation for the aural side of gaming. Sound design and musical compositions often play second string in an industry dominated by graphics and gameplay. Music and sound effects won't push modern consoles and computers to their limits, but it makes the difference between a good game and a memorable game. Good music serves as an anchor point in recalling key moments of your favorite games (and life).

Anyway, keep these features coming. I'm sure there are plenty of unsung heroes waiting to be discovered by people like me.